Journal of Student Research 2013

189

Parents’ Attitudes towards On-site Child Care

Parents’ Attitudes towards On-Site Child Care Crystal Okerglicke Undergraduate Student, Human Development and Family Studies Katy Stangl Undergraduate Student, Human Development and Family Studies Abstract There is a large body of research analyzing parents’ participation in the labor force and the type of child care used in the United States, but very little is known about a trend in organizations that provides a different child care option for parents: on-site child care (Connelly, Degraff, & Willis, 2002). This nonrandom pilot study examined the attitudes of parents towards on-site child care by surveying 19 parents using an on-site facility at a small, Midwestern university. It was predicted that work/academic performance would be positively impacted because of using on-site child care and that the dependability of the on-site child care would positively impact parental satisfaction. Survey data was statistically analyzed and results indicate support for the first hypothesis. Implications for future research consist of using a larger and random sample to generalize findings. Implications for practitioners include considering adding on-site child care to their facility to decrease absenteeism and increase worker performance. Keywords: on-site child care, employer-sponsored child care, child care Today, whether by choice or circumstance, many parents in the United States work. With child care being one of the primary functions of a family, this leaves a lot of parents looking for care for their children. In 2009, 44% of all families included children (sons, daughters, step-children, and adopted children) under the age of 18 (U.S. Department of Labor: Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS],